Phillip Seymour Hoffman for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire?

Could The Hunger Games sequel be adding an Oscar-winner to its cast list?

With the shoot due to start at the end of the summer, Lionsgate and director Francis Lawrence are furiously putting together their cast for the second The Hunger Games movie, Catching Fire. We already know that the key faces from the first film will be back, but we're yet to hear of any confirmed new names for the second movie (and that's appreciating the number of names linked with the role of Finnick Odair).

There's a new piece of casting news, though, even though this one isn't confirmed yet either. But it seems that Phillip Seymour Hoffman has been offered the role of Plutarch Heavensbee in Catching Fire. He's a pivotal character, and presumably it'd be a two-film offer, with Heavensbee being the man who designs and runs The Hunger Games themselves.

The question, then, is whether Phillip Seymour Hoffman is interested in taking the role. That's no foregone conclusion (not least because the Deadline report below implies he might just be taking a bit of a break), and we'll keep you posted as we hear more.